Home is where the heart is
by starrylambs
Summary: Alison is back, and it seems like she's changed. Can she repair her relationship with Emily, or is she doomed to repeat the past?
1. Chapter 1

**Authors note: Hey! This is the first chapter of hopefully a longish story that I am planning. I unfortunately do not own these characters, though if I did, you just know that Emison would most certainly be endgame. Please leave a comment if you enjoyed it, I love getting feedback. If you have any questions, the best way to get in touch is on twitter which is linked in my BIO page. ENJOY!**

Today marked the three week anniversary of Alison's dramatic return to Rosewood. It also marked three weeks of uncomfortable attention for the girls. They pretended not to notice the people staring, talking behind their hands and sometimes even openly pointing. The whole experience was starting to weigh a little heavy on them.

"Not unlike being in a fishbowl" Spencer had commented dryly as she stared down some freshmen who had subtly been attempting to snap a picture of the girls. All subtlety flew out the window however when she failed to turn the flash on her camera off. She quickly fled at Spencer's withering glare.

"If they want a picture so bad they could just go to the yearbook" hissed Hanna, watching the girl retreat with a scowl.

Emily rolled her eyes and faced the group who had gathered at her locker.

"Has anyone heard from Ali?" she inquired, though she thought she knew the answer.

The three girls shook their heads in unison.

Emily sighed inwardly.

Alison was still locked away in her room, refusing to talk to anyone. Understandable considering everything that happened, and yet they were still frustrated. Alison had once again sucked them into an intricate web of lies. And that was not the only problem her return had resulted in. Aria was more paranoid than ever, convinced that "A" was simply biding their time and was going to return soon and expose her for murdering Shana. Spencer although thankfully still had not resorted to the pills, was still dealing with the very real possibility that her father was the one who had killed Mrs. D. Hanna was going through some sort of identity crisis that involved dyeing her hair and swigging from a hipflask wherever she went, she maintained that it was a protein shake, but the others had their doubts. And Emily, well, she was probably more affected by Alison's return than even she realised. Her emotions were constantly shifting, she went from being completely content with Paige, to feeling absolutely nothing in her company. She couldn't even tell if she still wanted to be friends with the other swimmer, she was indifferent to her, which sounded terrible but true.

Her entire being was focused on worrying about Alison, I mean between coming back from the dead only to have her mother murdered in cold blood before a cosy reconciliation could occur, Emily privately wondered how the other girl was really holding up. If she were Alison, she would never leave her room again.

So it came as something of a surprise when the final bell rang at the end of the day and she looked at her phone to find a text from the girl in question. She rushed to her car, tossing her books on the passenger seat and quickly read the text.

_Can you come over after school? -Alison_

Emily wondered briefly whether she was the only one to get the text or if the others girl would be there too. Shaking her head at this childish thought process, she replied that she was on her way and started her car.

She pulled up ten minutes later, suppressing a jolt of disappointment as she spotted Spencer and Aria's cars already parked in the driveway. She rang the doorbell and Hanna answered.

"Hey"

"Hi" greeted Emily warily. Hanna had been irritable lately, there was no telling which version she was speaking to.

"The girls are upstairs" she informed, making her way towards the kitchen.

Emily shut the door behind her and headed for the staircase.

"Wait, you're not coming?" she questioned.

"I'll follow you up, just gonna grab a drink" she shook her hip flask over her shoulder in explanation.

Emily contemplated waiting for her, but it felt like a magnet was pulling her up the stairs, so in the end she began her ascent.

Upon entering Alison's room, she greeted the girls and looked for a place to sit. Spencer was occupying the armchair, flipping through a book boredly. Aria sat cross-legged on the floor studying her phone. Alison was lounging on her bed, head resting against the headboard, her feet laying out before her.

She noticed Emily's indecision and tapped the bed beside her. Emily shot her a grateful smile and perched on the edge of the bed, her back touching the other girls legs.

Aria slid her phone shut and looked up.

"So, can I ask what this meeting is about?" she inquired, raising her eyebrows in Alison's direction.

The other girl slowly sat up, she was now side to side with Emily their thighs touching. She cleared her throat and fidgeted with the end of her shirt. Emily knew this was a nervous habit of hers but did not comment.

"First I want to thank you guys, for everything you've done for me. I know this situation isn't easy for any of us, but other people would have stopped helping me a long time ago. So thank you."

She stopped for a moment, her gaze falling to the floor.

"Secondly, I want to apologize. I know I've been distancing myself again and it's not okay"

Spencer leaned forward, her elbows now resting on her knees.

"Ali, your Mom just died and you are being hunted by a vicious psychopath, we get it. You are entitled to a little break every now and then, trust me" she reassured gently, sending the other girl a small smile.

Emily nodded fervently.

"Yeah don't worry about it, we know it's not personal. When you're ready to talk about it, you'll talk" she added.

Alison glanced at Emily, they both knew that sentence had a double meaning, intended or not.

"What I need now" continued Alison, looking at each other them in turn, "is your friendship, your support."

"Whatever you need" assured Aria.

Alison shot her a small smile, then looked down at her lap, seemingly struggling with something.

Emily gently touched her knee in silent support and Alison covered her hand with her own. Emily could feel her hand trembling.

Hanna chose that moment to make her reappearance, her gaze immediately fell to their conjoined hands, she shot Spencer an incredulous look. Spencer simply shooked her head and Hanna took a seat on the edge of the armchair without commenting.

Alison took a deep breath.

"I want to go back to school"

Emily turned to stare at her wide-eyed. She felt Alison squeeze her hand, and she squeezed back.

"On Monday" she finished determinedly.

Hanna's eye practically bugged out of her head. Emily noticed a pink tinge to her cheeks that definitely wasn't there ten minutes ago. She silently wondered how secure the Di Laurentis liquor cabinet was.

"Wait, you wanna go back THIS Monday, as in three days away?" questioned Spencer, who seemed the only one unsurprised at this information. But then again, she had the best poker face.

Alison nodded, biting her lip, letting go of Emily's hand and brushing a stray hair behind her ear.

Emily suddenly thought about how young she was, how young they all were. This whole "A" situation had forced them to grow up early. They were no longer the carefree group of gal pals they once had been.

Spencer seemed to think for a moment, studying Alison thoughtfully. Finally she said;

"If you think you're ready. We'll support you"

"ALL of us" she added, glaring at Hanna who had suddenly opened her mouth to interject. Under Spencer's gaze however, she simply nodded, her lips now pressed together in a firm line.

"I really appreciate it" said Alison gratefully, her voice wavering a little.

"I just need to get my mind off ..well you know"

They nodded their understanding.

For a moment it looked like Alison might cry, but it passed.

"So the real question" she said wiggling her eyebrows "what will I wear? It's not every day a girl comes back from the dead"

It was poor taste, a scandalous statement and yet it was so undeniably Alison that they all burst into laughter.

After an hour of trying on outfits, taking them off, then trying them on again, the girls managed to put together the perfect outfit.

"Drop _dead _gorgeous" declared Hanna, much to the amusement of the group.

Emily noticed however, that Hanna did not laugh, but took another hearty swig from her hipflask, glaring at Alison who was now modelling her outfit up and down in front of her mirror.

Eventually Spencer declared that she needed to take off, she had a date with Toby that night. Aria also left, claiming that she needed to get home, but something told them that she had no intention of going home, she had been texting someone all night.

Hanna announced that she was meeting Travis and asked Emily for a ride home.

Emily said yes and just as they were about to leave, she heard Alison call her.

She turned to find the other girl watching her with an unreadable expression.

"Can you stay for a minute? I want to ask you something."

"Uh, sure. What is it?"

Alison stared pointedly at Hanna who had been hovering in the doorway.

Hanna shrugged and left the room.

"I'll be in the car" she called over her shoulder.

Turning back to face Alison, she shifted her weight from one foot to another. This was the first time they had been alone together since her return.

Alison patted the bed and Emily resumed her previous seat, her heart racing.

She let out a breath and rubbed her suddenly sweaty palms against her jean clad thighs.

"Everything okay?" she asked, willing her heart rate to return to normal. She could feel Alison watching her.

"I'm fine. It's just .."

Despite herself, Emily turned to face the other girl, noticing that Alison had resumed fidgeting with her shirt. Without thinking, she reached out and grabbed her hand.

"Alison, what is it?" she questioned, trying to figure out what was going through the other girls mind.

Alison stared at their intertwined hands, seemingly struggling with something. At last, she met Emily's worried gaze.

"I'm not ready .." she began haltingly.

Emily's heart rate increased ten fold, she was not about to bring this up, not now. There suddenly wasn't enough air in the room.

Alison's nerve seemed to fail her and she broke their gaze.

"I'm not ready to go outside just yet, could you maybe walk Pepe for me tomorrow?"

Emily let out a deep breath. She was just overreacting.

"Of course, anything you need."

Alison locked gazes with her once more, Emily could almost hear the cogs working inside her head. She couldn't figure out how she was supposed to feel right now.

Eventually Alison got up and went to look out the window.

"Hopefully I'll be ready soon" she stated quietly.

Emily felt the absence of her body heat.

"Take all the time you need"

It was only later that night, with her thoughts unguarded that Emily admitted to herself that Alison wasn't talking about a dog. She had wanted to say something very different. She also admitted that she didn't know if she wasn't so sure she was ready to hear it.


	2. Chapter 2

Emily woke early the next day, she knew from experience that Alison was a late sleeper, so she wanted to avoid her if possible. She could not even begin to wrap her head around the whirlwind of emotions she was feeling, not to mention the stress she was under from the ever mounting body count. Hopefully Pepe would feel energized after his walk and cheer Alison up a bit.

With the sun just beginning to peak it's head over the treetops, she walked up the long driveway to the Di Laurentis house, passing the now wilted roses which Mrs. D had loved so much. She took a right on the porch and lifted a small blue flower pot which revealed a small key. This was where Alison kept her spare key, she was notorious for losing track of her keys. After calling on Emily to climb through her bedroom window on more than one occasion, the brunette eventually convinced her to hide a key nearby.

Smiling to herself, Emily let herself into the house, silently shutting the door behind her. She was trying not to wake anybody, but with a jolt she realised that she had not seen Mr. Dilaurentis's car in the driveway. Did that mean he was just a ridiculously early riser, or that he didn't come home last night?

Making her way towards the living room, she was stopped in her tracks as her eyes fell upon a darkened figure which seemed to be sprawled on the couch. Squinting in the dim light, she reached over and turned on the bedside lamp.

Turning once more her eyes widened in surprise.

"Alison?" she whispered.

The figure immediately bolted upright, eyes flying wildly around the room. It was then that Emily noticed the poker clutched in her right hand.

"Who's there?" demanded Alison, her voice hoarser than usual.

Emily stepped forward into the light.

"It's just me, I'm here to walk Pepe, remember?"

Alison brushed hair away from her face and finally focused on the girl in front of her.

"Emily?"

She had the delicate, frightened look of a _startled_ deer.

"Yeah it's me." she confirmed, moving closer "are you okay?" she added, raising an eyebrow at the poker in her lap.

Alison followed her gaze and casually let go of the offending object. Sitting up, she cracked her back with a groan.

"What time is it?" she asked, avoiding Emily's searching look.

"It's half seven"

Alison shot her an incredulous look.

"What? You know I get up early" Emily said defensively.

The other girl simply rolled her eyes.

"Seriously Alison, what are you doing down here, usually you don't get up until noon on a Saturday" she said trying to get the conversation back on track.

"You would remember that" sighed Alison, she pulled a leg up and tucked it underneath her "things are a bit different now Em"

"What do you mean?" replied Emily, taking a seat beside her.

"I havn't been sleeping all that well" said Alison, finally turning to meet Emily gaze.

It was only getting this close, that she noticed the dark purple rings beneath her eyes. She realised that Alison had been covering them with make up this whole time.

Emily opened her mouth uncertainly, but before she could talk Alison cut her off.

"Pepe's in the kitchen, he's _really _looking forward to his walk, thanks Em" she smiled in a way that Emily knew she wanted her to drop the subject.

Emily decided to let it go for now. She went into the kitchen and greeted the dog with a smile, she loved dogs. Pepe immediately jumped on her, his tongue lolling around in his mouth and his tail wagging happily behind him.

She fixed the lead on him and walked him to the front door. Looking back she could see Alison watching them, but the dim light in the room hid her expression.

"I'll be back soon" said Emily, closing the door behind her.

All through her walk, Emily tried to figure out what was going on with the other girl. Had she slept on the couch, or not slept as the case may be? Did she think that somebody was going to attack her and she needed a weapon to defend herself? And if she really was that scared, why hadn't she come to any of the girls for help?

She had taken Pepe off the leash and allowed him to wander a few paces in front of her. He sniffed excitedly at the flowers, bursting into a run every couple of streets. She was just thinking about how everyone was going to react to Alison's return to school on Monday when Pepe took off running.

"WAIT! Pepe get back here!" she called after him half-heartedly. Sighing inwardly she took off after him.

She eventually cornered him ten minutes later in Spencer's backyard, where he began enthusiastically digging up her azaleas. She managed to get his leash back on and drag him away, giving him a stern look and pointing her finger angrily.

"He seems to have a fondness for digging in this particular garden" came a dry voice from behind her.

She turned to find Spencer watching her with a slight smirk on her face. She held up a mug questioningly.

"Coffee?"

Emily shook her head, still out of breath from chasing the dog.

"No, thanks. I have to get him home" she inclined her head towards the dog who had surreptitiously attempting to inch back to the flowerbed.

Spencer nodded and took a sip of her coffee.

Emily was about to leave when a thought struck her.

"Hey Spence, have you seen Alison's dad around?"

The other girl tilted her head in thought.

"Not since Mrs. D's funeral." she replied, taking another sip of her coffee "why?"

Emily smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Oh it's nothing, I was just wondering"

Spencer raises an eyebrow in disbelief.

"You know I'm not buying that right?"

Emily sighed, looking at her shoes before meeting the other girls gaze.

"Alison was acting kind of ..strange this morning" she admits.

"Strange like how?" inquired Spencer, leaning against the doorframe.

"As in, slept on the downstairs sofa with a weapon in her hand kind of strange" explained Emily, "I don't think her Dad came home last night"

Spencer grimaced in understanding.

"She's probably a little paranoid Em, I mean wouldn't you be? Someone has been torturing her for two years, it's got to make even Queen Ali a little scared"

Emily nodded, lost in thought.

Spencer watched her carefully, finally stepping forward and putting a hand on the other girls shoulder.

"Look I'm sure she's fine Em. If she needed help, she would have come to us right?"

Emily shrugged noncommittally.

"I guess"

"Besides" added Spencer, her gaze now on the freshly upturned earth which had been Mr's D's final resting place, "We have much bigger things to worry about"

Emily let herself into Alison's house twenty minutes later, equal parts relieved and anxious when she realised that the couch was now empty.

She turned the dog loose and he bounded towards the kitchen, to get some water undoubtedly.

Alison was sitting at the table with her chin resting on her hand, gazing out the window. She looked in when Emily entered.

"Hi" said Emily warily, noticing that the other girl now had her makeup on.

"Hi" replied Alison, waving her towards the vacant seat beside her.

Emily sat and folded her arms nervously.

"Nice walk?"

She nodded, staring at the wall in front of her.

Alison hesitated, trying to gauge what Emily was feeling, before she could try again the other girl cut in.

"Where is your Dad?"

Alison tried to smile, but Emily could tell that she was faking.

"What do you mean?" she avoided the other girls gaze.

Emily simply stared at her. Alison sighed and her smile faltered.

"He left the night of my moms funeral" she finally said.

Emily closed her eyes in disbelief. Alison had been alone all this time and instead of helping her, she had been too absorbed in her own "feelings" what was she ten years old. Her friend was in pain and she had been too blind to see it.

"He's been gone this whole time and you never said anything?"

Alison smiled somewhat bitterly.

"Some people grieve differently Em. I don't blame him for needing to take off for a bit" she shrugged sadly.

"Besides" she added her gaze falling to her lap "he thinks that I'm staying with one of you"

Emily shot her a quizzical glance.

"Why would her think that? And why are you _not _staying with one of us? It's not safe to be here alone Ali"

Alison rolled her eyes irritably.

"It's not like I have many options here Em."

"Of course you do! Hanna, Spencer, Ar-"

"Think about it" interjected Alison impatiently.

"Hanna's drinking all the time, how useful would she be if "A" decided to attack me there? She'd probably mistake him for the pizza guy and invite him in for a beer" she finished with a growl.

Emily thought about it for a second.

"I guess, but what about Spencer?"

"You mean besides the fact that my Mother's body was found hidden under her rose bushes?"

Emily acquiesced with a tilt of her head.

"Aria?"

"If she really is seeing Ezra again, I can't see her wanting to be roommates with the girl who almost destroyed their relationship and is the reason he is a amateur private detective."

Emily hesitated, her eyes on the floor.

Eventually she looked up and saw that Alison was already watching her, anticipating what her next question would be"

"As much as I would like to stay at yours Em, things between us are a little ..fragile at the moment" she said softly, dipping her head to meet the other girls gaze "I don't want to mess this up again" she indicated the space between them.

Emily felt her cheeks burn. There were so many questions she wanted to ask. Instead she said;

"Alison you need to sleep"

The other girl leaned back in her chair, studying her.

"I'm used to not sleeping much" she said lightly.

Emily felt her breath catch, this was the first time Alison had brought up her time on the run.

"Was it really that bad?" she asked cautiously, she didn't want the other girl to clam up again.

Alison blinked hard, staring at a spot just behind Emily, her eyes distant. When she spoke her voice was almost a whisper.

"You have no idea. Trust me, sleep was the least of your worries when you're a young girl travelling by herself"

Emily shuddered at the tone in her voice.

She wanted to know more, but Alison got up and turned away, seemingly trying to regain her composure.

Emily decided to drop it, for the moment at least.

"Look Alison, I know you've been through a lot worse and you don't want things to get ..complicated between us, but you can't stay here alone. I'm going to ask my Mom if you can stay with us"

Alison turned to face her, about to speak.

"We don't have to share a bed. You can stay in the guest room" said Emily quickly.

Alison smiled gratefully at her.

Emily got up to leave, giving the other girl a shy smile.

She paused at the doorway.

"You know" she began locking eyes with the other girl.

"I don't want to mess this up either"

She was gone before Alison could reply.


End file.
